I didn’t get as early a start as I wished, but daylight only started at 7:10 AM.
I got the 8:11 train to Brig (off at Visp) from Montreux.
In Visp I got on the 9:41 AM train to Zermatt. Interestingly enough although I was on the train for an hour no one ever checked my rail pass. This section was the most scenic of the trains so far. The Golden Pass Line was good, but this was much better.
I arrived in Zermatt at 10:51 to be greeted by rain…. I got my rain gear on and walked to the hotel check in desk. I am staying in the Patricia Residence this evening. It was a bit too early to check in, but they allowed me leave my bags in the lobby for free. I sorted my things and I was not going to make the Gornergrat cog train at 11:36 AM since it was already 11:34, so I stopped at a grocery store and got 150 grams of Chorizio (less than 3 Swiss Francs) a 1.5L of generic cola (0.55 Swiss Francs) and 1.5L bottle of still water (0.30 Swiss Francs). This is significantly cheaper than eating at a restaurant. I saw one menu had a 180 gram steak listed at 56 Swiss Francs!
I continued the short walk to the Gornergrat station and boarded the 12:00 train. This was probably the most scenic train trips I have ever taken. It was still a bit rainy, so I actually saw a few rainbows in the valley (we were looking down on them) during the trip. Unfortunately the Matterhorn was hidden by the clouds.
At the top of Gornergrat there was a hotel and a small chapel. At the observation area it was possible to see a few glaciers. The weather was constantly changing, but always cloudy. At one point it was just miserable with small pellets of ice pelting my face. When I first arrived it was below freezing, luckily I brought enough layers, gloves and hats. At one point a mountain goat came up and was eating what I think was salt they left out for the animals.
After giving up on the weather I left the top at 3:55 PM. I was able to take a few more pictures of things I missed on the way up. Luckily the train was far from full so I could take pictures from both sides – and the top of the window opened up so I didn’t have to worry about reflections in the windows.
I visited the Matterhorn Museum briefly – it was free with the Swiss Travel Pass. It was okay, but nothing exceptional. I should have spent my time walking through the street with the old houses – Hinterdorfstrasse. I could tell the sky was clearing and at this point I’m cursing myself from coming down from Gornergrat too soon, but I managed to get a few good pictures of the Matterhorn from the Matterhorn Museum. I walked back to get my room key from the hotel and make sure I could get some snacks for tomorrow’s extremely long train ride from the grocery store. I was going to walk back, but I found a good spot behind my hotel which had a clear shot of the Matterhorn. I took quite a few pictures until almost 7:30 PM at which time I literally ran to the grocery store (they close at 8:00 PM). I got some more Chorizio (dinner plus for tomorrow) and more soda. I walked back to the room to get my camera for some night photography. Unfortunately the historical houses on Hinterdorfstrasse were very badly lit. I did attempt to take a few pictures.
Picture below is temporary as it is from my phone, I will add photos from my real camera later.
